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Hope Castle
Hope Castle was the 19th episode of Season 3 and the 111th story overall of PB&J Otter. This episode originally aired on July 30, 2000. This episode was nominated for an Annie Award for the songwriting of Fred Newman and Dan Sawyer. After Mayor Jeff shows the kids Fort Gazpacho, an over-200-year old monument, Jelly gets the idea that she and the others should build their own monument. They all agree that it would be fun to make something that would last forever and decide to make a sandcastle. They design a beautiful castle, but a storm gathers in the skies and threatens to wreck it. With the storm fast approaching, the kids learn an important lesson about learning to appreciate what you have and making the most of each day. Story Detail Opening Jelly reads the title display. The episode opens with Mayor Jeff talking about Gazpacho Day. It's a holiday held for the founder of Lake Hoohaw, Captain Gazpacho, who also created Fort Gazpacho. Fort Gazpacho is an area monument and twenty foot statue of Captain Gazpacho created in "The Big Surprise" is now standing outside it. As he continues that the fort still stands strong and proud, he accidentally pushes over a log and quips that it does "mostly anyway." The kids compliment him on giving a great our and head off. As they do, they chatter about how cool the tour and Fort Gazpacho were. Ootsie and Bootsie are the only ones not impressed-- "it's all old and full of holes." The others patiently explain that Fort Gazpacho is over 200 years old, well before they had hot tubs. "Cheese and quackers," says Flick. "That's practically forever." Jelly stops and says that she thinks it would be cool if they could make something that would last forever. Make it Last Oootsie and Bootsie say that their parents have already taken care of that. They point out Mount Snootiemore, a carved with their faces in the style of Mount Rushmore. As they look on, they lament features on the mountain that they feel the designers have gotten wrong. They run off and Peanut asks Jelly what they could make. Jelly suggests that they do a "Noodle Dance." Peanut, as usual, refuses to dance at first, but sees the others dancing and soon joins the crowd. Jelly gets an idea. "How about a Sphinx?" she asks. "Hey, who ya' sayin' stinks?" responds Flick. "No, a Sphinx," clarifies Jelly and Peanut further clarifies that she means "one of those Egyptian statue thingies." The two begin dancing like Egyptians and a song number, "Make it Last," begins. In the number, a Sphinx with Jelly's face is seen and Jelly appears as an Egyptian pharaoh. As the song continues, Peanut suggest a skyscraper. "We can build it, something grand, make it last!" He wears a construction worker's hat and they envision the skyscraper. Munchy then gets another idea-- a giant dam. "We can make it out of wood, make it last!" The song ends and Munchy says they can make a giant dam from a bazillion logs. Flick wonders how they'll get a bazillion logs and Jelly says that what they build doesn't have to be big and fancy for people to remember it. A Castle? As the others continue to talk, Butter heads off on her own and starts sculpting a sand castle. Jelly says that's what they could build. Flick thinks that it's a dinky idea and no one will come to see it. Jelly says they'll make it so big and cool that even Captain Gazpacho would be impressed. The others, however, don't seem to be impressed. Peanut says he doesn't know and Munchy says he only works in wood. "Come on," pleads Jelly, but Flick says they're going to go play hide-and-seek. He, Pinch and Scootch leave, but Munchy agrees to stay and help the Otters. Try, Try Again & All Together We Can Build It Pinch says they can play hide-and-seek anytime. Making a sand-castle that will last forever is a really big deal. They begin work on the castle in earnest. Munchy asks if they shouldn't use wood. Jelly says they'll be fine as long as they mix the sand right. She asks Mayor Jeff how to mix it and he gives them his "secret Hoohaw sand recipe," three parts sand and two parts water, stir well and bake in the sun for two minutes. "Or was that my babbleberry muffin recipe?" He says he has to go water his melons and wishes them good luck. Jelly likes the recipe and they go some tools to make shapes. Munchy manages to make a tool by nibbling on some wood. They continue the construction. Munchy asks Peanut what he thinks of his tower. "Well, Munch, it's kinda, you know, a little crooked." A song begins, "Try, Try Again." Peanut and Jelly sing the song, telling him not to give up on himself and try again. As the song continues, Munchy becomes more confident. "I'm gonna try again!" he says. He continues making his tower. It falls over, but he doesn't give up. Despite it falling over several times, he considers the matter and by the time the song has ended, he has a great tower. Just then, they hear the sounds of the others shouting "You're it!" Their hide-and-seek game has apparently degenerated into tag. "Yahhh!" yells Scootch and knocks over Munchy's tower. "Sorry, sorry, my fault." Flick says that the castle doesn't look bad and Pinch says it seems to be more than they're having. Jelly asks if they want to help and they agree this time. Pinch picks up a shell to decorate the castle. They all get to work and another song begins, "All Together We Can Build It." As the song plays, they construct the castle. Munchy digs a tunnel, Flick packs the floor and Pinch uses shells for decoration. They construct towers and turrets, making it into a very nice looking castle. Long Live Castle Forever "Wow, it's great!" declares Jelly. She says all it needs is a flag. A blue feather falls from the sky and she uses it for the flag. Peanut says it needs brave knights. He pulls out a couple of his play knights from his room and the become the castle's protectors. Jelly says they'll call it "Castle Forever." They'll defend it against wild creatures, "even if means sacrificing our lives in some cruel and painful way," comments Jelly, which is greeted only with silence from the others, who nevertheless agree to defend it at least until lunchtime. "Long live Castle Forever!" everyone cheers. Dark clouds gather in the sky and Munchy suggests that a storm might be coming. It begins to rain and the Snooties show up, holding umbrellas. "What's that thing?" asks Ootsie. Peanut and Jelly explain, but the Snooties say the castle won't last two seconds if there's a storm. They again point out Mount Snootiemore, Ootsie lamenting that his lips are too big and Bootsie that hers are too. They run off yelling "Daddy!" Munchy says he knew they should have made it out of wood. The screen fades to black, signifying the end of the first half. Save the Castle Lightning laces the sky and the rain continues. Jelly tries to put a good spin on it, saying that maybe it'll just drizzle a little. They wind picks up and Flick tells them to get real-- "a big, giant storm's coming!" From up in the Watchbird Tower, Crane spots the kids' castle. "How beautiful," she comments and Cap'n Crane responds "How dreadful." She says that he needs to get his binoculars checked, but when she tells him about the castle, he explains that what he saw was the approaching storm. She tells him to sound the Watchbird Alert and he does. "Storm, fun!" comments Butter. The others say that they're getting inside. All of the others except Munchy leave. Jelly says she doesn't think Castle Forever is stormproof. Peanut says they can talk about it inside over hot cocoa. Munchy joins them inside the houseboat, where Opal pours them each a nice, steaming cup of hot cocoa with marshmallows. Watching the storm from the window, Ernest says that it's a real doozy and Opal says she has to bring in the laundry. Ernest says that the last time they had a big storm, the water rose up over the dock. That would mean that Castle Forever would be underwater. Jelly says there's gotta be a way to save their castle. They need to do a Noodle Dance. Peanut says there's no way he's dancing, but joins in the dance very quickly. Once again, Jelly gets an idea. She picks up a glass of water and says that they can put a waterproof dome over the castle. Peanut says it's a great idea, but he doesn't know where they can find a glass that big. Jelly suggests that they could go to Giant Land, but Peanut reminds her that the last time they tried that, they never made it. "I forgot," says Jelly. Ernest tells Opal that he needs to visit the storeboat to get some plywood to put over the windows. Peanut wonders about this and Munchy explains that wood is stronger than glass. Peanut asks how he knows that and Munchy says he's a beaver and therefore knows everything about wood. In fact, he has an idea. He thinks they should use "Munchy's Super-Strong Jiffy Wood-Spray" to make it wooden. Jelly says she thinks it's a good idea, but there's no such thing. Peanut gets another idea. He thinks they could move the castle to a safe place, but he's too young to drive a bulldozer. With that in mind, Jelly says they just have to use what they can find. She grabs an umbrella. The Brighter Side They leave the houseboat and Ernest asks where they're going. They explain about the castle and he agrees to let them go, but says that they should hurry, as the storm is closing in. A song begins, "Hope Will Carry Us Through." A female soloist and a group of backing vocalists perform the song. As they do, the characters are left free to work on the castle. They fortify with sticks and rocks. They try to use the umbrella, but it keeps blowing away and blowing Jelly with it. As the song ends, the protections seem to be working, keeping the water from reaching the castle. The umbrella blows away and Munchy says the storm is getting worse. "Maybe we should panic." Ernest tells them to all come inside and Munchy asks if they can panic now. Peanut says they have to go and they run inside. The castle begins to crumble. Jelly asks Opal if there's anything they can do to save the castle. She says that sometimes there's nothing you can do but wait and see, but that sometimes good can come out of the bad. You just have to look for the brighter side of things. Peanut points out a bright side-- the sun is coming out! Nothing Lasts Forever & A New Beginning With the storm over, the group returns to the spot of the castle. Munchy asks where it is, but it's clearly all gone. Jelly finds the flag and Munchy finds the bucket and shovels. The others show up and Jelly tells Flick that the castle is totally gone. The Snooties show up to gloat, saying that they told them it wouldn't last. "Not like our monument," comments Bootsie, but then the two watch in shock as Mount Snootiemore collaspes. They run away screaming. Peanut asks if Jelly is okay. She says it's not fair and begins singing the song "Nothing Lasts Forever." Jelly is sad that nothing seems to last and that the castle just got washed away. She asks what she can do and Peanut reminds her that they worked together. Munchy sings that they gave it their best shot. Peanut says that they have each other. They hug. Jelly sings that it's "hard to understand when things just shift about like sand." The song ends and Munchy asks what they do now. Hide-and-seek is suggested, but Jelly doesn't feel much like doing anything. Butter gigles. She's building a new castle! Peanut thinks she has the right idea. "It's like Mama said. We just have to look on the bright side." They begin finding cool rocks and stuff to put on a new sandcastle. Flick asks why they would want to do it again and Jelly and Peanut say they'll build a new one, a stronger one. They continue to gather up castle materials. Pinch says that all that's missing is a name. Peanut says they could call it Castle Here Today, Gone Tomorrow. Munchy suggests Babbleberry Castle and Pinch likes Lake Hoohaw Castle. Flick doesn't like any of the ideas and suggests Castle Cheese and Quackers, which doesn't fly with the others. Betty Lou Beaver castle, suggests Munchy. "Munchy, that's your Mom's name," replies Flick. Munchy responds that he loves that name. Finally, Jelly suggests Hope Castle. She hopes it stays around longer than the last one. "Hope Will Carry Us Through" is briefly reprised and the episode ends. During the closing credits, an instrumental of "Try, Try Again" is played. Characters *Mayor Jeff *Peanut Otter *Jelly Otter *Baby Butter Otter *Munchy Beaver *Flick Duck *Pinch Raccoon *Scootch Raccoon *Ootsie Snootie *Bootsie Snootie *Ernest Otter *Opal Otter Credits *Executive Producers - Jim Jinkins *Supervising Producer - Jack Spillum *Produced By Bruce Knapp *Directed By Jeff Buckland *Writer - David Campbell *Executive Story Editor - Reed Shelly *Voice Director - Kent Meredith *Line Producer - Jim Houston *Production Manager - Masako Kanayama *Production Supervisor - Michael Maurer *Script Coordinator - Robert David *Music by Dan Sawyer *Songs By Fred Newman, Dan Sawyer, Rich Mendoza, and Michael Maurer *Storyboards by Enrico Casarosa, Stephan Martiniere (as Stephan Martinere) *Storyboard Slugging - My Chatterton *Editor - Daniel J. Rosen *Executive Consultant - Bill Gross Songs *Make It Last *Try, Try Again *All Together We Can Build It *Hope Will Carry Us Through *Nothing Lasts Forever Trivia *With 7 songs, this episode has the most songs in the series. *The lead vocalist for "Hope Will Carry Us Through" was Carmen Carter Category:PB&J Otter Stories Category:Episodes Category:Season 3 Episodes Category:PB&J Otter Episodes Category:Specials